Deans gives teenager certainty, for now, on his position

[James]

Has anyone else noticed that if JO'C gets capped on tour we could be playing an all-wallaby backline in the Super 14 with Valetine, Giteau, Mitchell, O'Connor, Cross, Staniforth and Shepherd. Cheery thought.

[NTT]

Sure have.

[Jehna]

My first thought was i'm not sure I'd want J'OC as the last line of defence....but then i remember how fearless he was in his few super 14 games. I agree that there are many advantages to playing him 15 - more ball, clear running space, less physicality until he builds more muscle. Plus he's a pretty creative kid but also smart enough to keep it simple at such an elite level which frankly i think AAC and even at times Drew has failed to do. It will be a good experiment and adds just that little bit more pressure for AAC and Drew to step up their game, an din the case of Drew he could prove to be an excellent mentor which can be carried through to super 14. In te end i think its too dangerous to play such an inexperienced player in the centres at this level. He needs time to learn super 14 first.

[Burgs]

To be honest Jen "Drew" and "excellent mentor" aren't two things that immediatley spring to mind!
"Life of the party", "excellent mate", "good for a laugh" maybe but I can't see Robbie or Mitch rooming them together anytime soon

[lara93]

Has anyone else noticed that if JO'C gets capped on tour we could be playing an all-wallaby backline in the Super 14 with Valetine, Giteau, Mitchell, O'Connor, Cross, Staniforth and Shepherd. Cheery thought.

would be joy

[Flamethrower]

I can't see how people can put Fullback and less physicality together.

Why are we searching for a Fullback who can string 3 games in a row.

It's because all our choices have been injured.

It may not be a constant impact position but the collisions are high paced and dangerous when they happen.

The Fullback also has the burden that there is no one behind him if he misses a tackle so tends to commit harder.

[Burgs]

Give it up Flame, we all know Fullbacks are fairy fags

[robyn <3]

To be honest Jen "Drew" and "excellent mentor" aren't two things that immediatley spring to mind!
"Life of the party", "excellent mate", "good for a laugh" maybe but I can't see Robbie or Mitch rooming them together anytime soon

im with burgs here.

cam would be better at the job. and he knows how to play fullback- BONUS (sorry drew)

our options are pretty limited. james is very very talented and should be given a shot, but to limit him to one position just because we are low in that area is a tad unfair. i would much prefer to see him at FLYHALF with mr giteau at 12. i think you are right jehna, im not sure how great having james last in defence would be. he tries his little heart out but he just doesn't have the size to back him up if he has a massive kiwi running at him.

How much action Turner sees...

none if james is at fullback

[lara93]

none if james is at fullback

yieewww

[GIGS20]

our options are pretty limited. james is very very talented and should be given a shot, but to limit him to one position just because we are low in that area is a tad unfair. i would much prefer to see him at FLYHALF with mr giteau at 12.

I'm not sure I read the same copy as you robyn, but I thought the Fullback thing was a way of introducing O'Connor to the international game (after 4 super rugby caps let's remember) with as much time and as little pressure as possible. Basically, I think putting him at fullback is wise given that....if the rest of your team is doing the job, the fullback's role is pretty much get involved as you feel like it and catch the long ball that gets kicked at you because your defence is smashing everything else they've got backwards. This sort of an introduction gives him the opportunity to get used to the pace, the pressure and the size of international players without exposing him to too much do-or-die stuff....unless of course the rest of the team isn't the goods, in which case it doesn't matter what number's on his back, he'll be getting hammered all day!

[robyn <3]

i just read that again and i meant to say our fullback options are limited, not james' options are limited

i don't think james is looking at a permanent spot in a fullback jumper, and thats the impression i got from the article. he can play pretty much all of the backline positions and i would rather than he wasn't limited to one position like robbie is saying. i haven't seen him play at 15 but his s14 at 12 was fantastic. i would rather he learnt more about 10-12 than spend the tour playing fullback because i think he is destined for either one of those positions. a development tour is to develop skills and developing his fullback skills wouldn't be a waste, but it would be better to run around with gits and barnes working on 10-12.

i'm suprised mitchell suggests that cameron would be getting less time at fullback to make room for james (i missed that line before) so i suppose a tour being exposed to fullback wouldn't hurt, but the boy's game style strikes me is very involved in the game and i dont think wearing a 15 jumper would be as natural to someone with that kind of style. but then, i haven't seen him that much and first impressions are often wrong...

playing fullback wouldn't do him any harm, but exclusively is a bit unnecessary.

i see where you are coming from gigs... i just got the impression that fullback thing would continue into next s14 and then become his position.